My first big trip has ended. I returned home on June 9, earlier than planned but at the right time. As I’ve finished the trip and had a chance to think about it on the whole, I wanted to capture some things that I think I may find important that will be lost if I don’t write them down. I’ll address them in no particular order
Rating the campgrounds
According to the quality of the campground experience itself:
- Mackinaw City KOA – Had all the amenities; nice pool, dog park. Very close to all activities. Toilets, shower, and laundry all pretty close to campsite.
- Outer Banks – Currituck KOA – Had all amenities except pool. Great dog park. Right on the water. Very good toilet and showers – probably the best on the trip. Not as close to activities as other campgrounds.
- Four Mile Creek State Park (Niagara Falls) Beautiful setting and nice park. Very spacious campsite. Convenient to attractions. Shower and toilets very good, but a distance from campsite.
- Beach Rose RV Park (Salisbury, MA) – Very convenient to attractions. Toilet, showers, and laundry close to campsite. Dog park.
- Hadley’s Point Campground (Bar Harbor, ME) – Slightly removed from attractions, toilet convenient but showers a distance. Actual campsite a bit rougher than some others.
- Cozy Acres Campground (Litchfield, CT) – Very convenient to attractions. Good shade Campsite was on slope. Toilet and shower a drive away. Dog park. Gets points for nearness to activities but loses points for comfort of campsite
- Mama Gertie’s (Asheville, NC) – Very distant from attractions. Entire campground is on steep hillside. Small campsites. Office hours short.
- Gifford Pinchot State Park (Gettysburg) – Very spacious campsite. Good showers and toilets; close one was closed. Most distant from attractions
- Rustic Timbers (Egg Harbor, WI) – Near attractions. Showers very distant, toilets not near. Campsite okay. Employees not welcoming. They did provide live entertainment on the weekend. Might be better during season.
- Greenwood Campground (Bennington, VT) – Bugs and more bugs. Nice parklike setting, but not near attractions. Good, spacious campsite. Toilets/shower not close. Tight back-in space. Entire experience colored by bugginess.
- Campfire Campground (Spring Green, WI) – Sketchy people there; lots of perms and seasonals. Toilets and showers not close. Campsite did not drain well and was constantly damp. Buggy. New owners seem to be struggling.
Rating the destinations
- Bar Harbor/Acadia National Park, Maine
- Door County, Wisconsin
- Salisbury, Massachusetts
- Niagara Falls, New York
- Mackinac Island, Michigan
- Outer Banks, North Carolina
- Litchfield, Connecticut
- Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
- Asheville, North Carolina
- Bennington, Vermont
- Spring Green, Wisconsin
Pleasant Surprises
Gloucester, MA – Very nice small city with lots of history, activity, shopping, and beautiful scenery and views. Would love to spend more time there. Amazing seafood and quite historic.
Door County, WI – I expected it to be very nice and a high point of the trip, but it surpassed my expectations. Lots of things to do, little places to go, beautiful scenery. A wide variety – can do touristy stuff, shopping, lots of eateries, hiking and natural beauty. Big arts scene. Even a drive-in movie.
Outer Banks, NC – Beautiful beach and resort area. Weather very cooperative for beach activities. More settled and built up than I was expecting.
Niagara Falls/Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario – The winery situation was a big positive surprise there, as it has grown dramatically since my last visit. Also, I remember NotL being a small, quiet town. I’m not sure what I saw then, but this visit it was quite the tourist attraction. Many shops and inns, and all very beautifully maintained.
Disappointments
Kennebunkport, ME – Small, crowded, and generally unimpressive. If it had been much emptier, it would have been cute, but no more so than at least a half-dozen other towns I saw along the way. Would not go again.
Spring Green, WI – Admittedly this was an add-on. Still, aside from Taliesin and New Glarus (which was over an hour away), there was absolutely nothing to do in this small town. A day would have been plenty.
Asheville, NC – It wasn’t Asheville’s fault. It’s just not a great place to take a dog. It’s crowded and not especially dog-friendly, and parking is a problem. I would go again, but not with a pet.
Bennington, VT – The bug situation colored everything badly. It’s a place without a great deal to do. I stayed there four nights, but three would have been better, and I might have even been able to get away with two. And it’s just not close to anything else that’s interesting, so it’s not a place to combine attractions.
Lessons Learned
- Don’t plan many nights “on the road”. Unless the distances are great you’ll get from one place to the next, and the open dates mess up the travel plans.
- Plan to stay at least four nights at any given place. Three nights only gives you two days plus at the site. Unless it’s somewhere where you only have one or two things to see, you will probably want a fourth night.
- Make sure there is enough distance between campgrounds. This was tough in the northeast, but should be easier out west, where distances are greater.
- Don’t use the onboard furnace.
- Avoid using the toilet and shower, even if you have a sewer hookup.